Episode 74 - With Bells On

"Okay, Taitai." Amari crouched down and took a small bag out of his pocket, then held the child's hand. "There're some special rules you've gotta follow if you wanna go places with me."

Taitai was quiet for a second, then took a little breath. "Oh. Why?" Amari guessed he was showing some kind of facial expression and Yangyang had gestured for him to speak.

"Because, I use my ears and my hands to see things." He reached into the bag and pulled out two small bells. "So for me, hearing you's the same as seeing you." With a flick of his wrist, a clear and unique sound rang out. "I'm gonna put these on your shoes. That way, I can hear where you are when we're in a room or outside together."

He untied Taitai's shoelaces, pulling them from the eyelets to attach a bell on the front of each shoe.

"You'll really be able to hear these?" Yangyang asked, leaning down closer to look.

"I've listened to these bells over and over for two months." He smiled as he finished retying the shoelaces. "My hearing's pretty good, and it's a familiar sound to me now. As long as he doesn't go too far, I'll hear them." Giving Taitai's foot a pat, the bell chimed. "Does that make sense, Taitai?"

The little sneaker shook, ringing the bell again, followed by a quick "Ēn."

"Good. You've also gotta be touching either me or your ba when we're walking around, okay? When you ran into the street before, it scared me to death."

"Sorry..." Taitai timidly apologized, and Amari gave him a warm smile, hugging him tight.

"I know. But I get scared when I don't know where you are. So you've gotta stay close."

"Okay."

"One more rule." He stood and took Taitai's hand. "If your ba or I call your name, no matter what you're doing, you've gotta call back. That way, if I don't hear the bells, I can check that you're nearby."

Taitai made a noise in agreement and Amari ruffled his hair, feeling long and soft between his fingers. He was becoming more and more like his ba every day.

"These're very important rules," Amari stressed, giving the small hand in his a squeeze. "If you don't follow them, I can't spend time with you."

"Okay Li gēge!" exclaimed Taitai and Amari couldn't stop a giggle from escaping. He was sure the six-year-old would be easily distracted and forget, since a child's determination was usually fleeting, but at least his desire to spend time with his gēge outweighed any complaints over the added rules.

Yangyang's arm naturally rested on Amari's shoulder, and the three entered the museum, bells jingling as they walked.

At least for this trip, Amari didn't have to worry much about Taitai disappearing, because he was constantly dragging them around, excited to show off everything he saw. Since most of the museum was separated into various artist-led workshops, there was also a lot of free time for the adults to relax together.

"So, Minwoo didn't wanna come?" Amari was twirling a paper ball in his hands, apparently made of different colored strips, glued into hoops and weaved together. Or something like that. Whatever it looked like, it felt interesting in his hands - light and springy, with plenty of spaces to keep his fingers busy. "I'm surprised he turned down the chance to play with Taitai."

Yangyang sat next to him on one of the museum benches as they waited for Taitai to finish playing in the Media Lab. They were close enough for their shoulders and thighs to touch, and Amari smiled at the contact. The shouting and giggling of children surrounded them and he mentally added the place to his list of favorites.

"In his exact words, 'Bruh, no, this is a trip for the fam. I can read the vibe, and I'm not crashing my OTP when you just got back together.'"

"What the fuck..." Amari mumbled, hushed so no children would hear. "That kid's crazy. I think he just looked up teen slang to throw it around... And that seems like a weak excuse for not coming. He's usually perfectly happy to insert himself anywhere."

"I think he has a girl. Or at least a one-sided crush."

"Really?" Amari turned to look at Yangyang in surprise.

Of course he couldn't see him, but it was a strange reaction he had never been able to rid himself of. Having spent some time with others who became visually-impaired later in life, he found these reactions weren't unique to him. At fourteen, it was already an instinct to turn and look at someone, even though now he was only staring at a blur.

"I haven't seen him since the night you came home, but at that point he had bright pink hair and was wearing eyeliner, jewelry, very skinny jeans, and an insanely colorful sweater." Yangyang chuckled remembering the ridiculous image. "He said his friend really liked K-pop and he let her dress him up."

Amari grinned wide at the description, not that he really knew how Minwoo had dressed before. Fashion was the least of his concerns and not something he ever asked about. In his mind, that image matched the kid's personality perfectly, but apparently Yangyang thought it was unusual.

"So, you think he wouldn't let someone give him a makeover unless he wanted to be more than friends?"

"Minwoo? Of course not. He would let a stranger dress him up." Yangyang chuckled again. "It was the way he said it, and then the way he blushed when I called him on it." He took the paper ball from Amari, probably worried he would crush it. "He's also been unusually busy the past week or so. It doesn't mean there's a girl. That's just what I'm guessing."

Smirking at Yangyang, Amari gave his knee a pat. "Aww, is this hyung worried about his little brother? They grow up so fast..."

"Shut up," grumbled Yangyang, slouching on the bench.

His smirk widened to a smile, happy that his makeshift family had adopted a new, full member. Yangyang seemed so friendly and outgoing, but that image was only on the surface. Beneath, he was a bit lonely, without many solid, meaningful relationships with people he trusted. Amari had always thought he was the outsider, distant and isolated, but in reality, he had a support system he could turn to if he absolutely needed it. Yangyang only had his sister. It didn't relieve all of his guilt, and it didn't make him feel completely better, but he was glad that his absence meant Yangyang now shared this family with him and didn't have to feel so alone anymore.

Lost in thought, Amari barely heard the bassy laughing next to him, then gleeful giggling to his other side. He furrowed his brow and turned to glare at Yangyang.

"What're you laughing at?"

Before he could answer, Amari heard a few clicks near his face, and then more giggling, accompanied by the jingling of bells fading ahead. "What's he doing?"

"Taking your picture." Yangyang was still laughing, low and trapped in his throat now as he tried to contain it. "Many, many pictures. You were in a complete daze."

Amari sighed and hung his head back over the bench. "I've never decided if I don't care about those things, because I can't see it anyway, or if it's actually more embarrassing, because everyone but me can see it." He closed his eyes, his cheeks a bit warm. "Right now, I'm going with more embarrassing."

Yangyang shook off the rest of his laughter, and gave Amari's hand a light squeeze. "I know you hate it, but you really are beautiful. Trust me. I spend a lot of time looking at you, and you never need to be embarrassed."

Amari groaned and slouched lower, his cheeks hot now. "Jesus, that's even worse. You've gotta stop saying things like that."

"You know that's never going to happen."

He nodded. He knew that was true and deep down, he knew he liked it, but that didn't mean Yangyang needed to know.

After going through every artist-led station, Taitai had sculpted an unrecognizable animal out of clay, which he insisted was a dog, made multiple paper crafts, and ran around learning to take pictures and make videos, most of which apparently featured close-ups of Amari's face.

"Li gēge! Draw a picture with me!" Taitai dragged him over to a short stool, sitting next to him and pulling over a piece of paper.

Scratching at his head, he raised a questioning eyebrow. "Taitai, how'm I s'posed to draw a picture I can't see?"

Yangyang sat on the other side of him. "Aww, come on Li gēge. Just try." Amari rolled his eyes, imagining the teasing smile that came with those words, and sighed in defeat.

"Okay. Then we'll make a deal." He rested his hand on Taitai's head. "I'll draw a picture, but you've gotta make a picture I can feel."

"You can feel?"

"Yeah. You can't draw with crayons or markers. You've gotta use things you can stick onto the paper, so when I run my hand over it, I can feel your drawing." He stood and switched seats with Taitai. "Don't worry. Your ba can help you."

"Or maybe I should sit in the middle?" Yangyang teased. "I think Li gēge will need just as much help as you."

Amari groaned and felt across the table, grabbing the first marker his fingers touched.

"Red."

He sighed at the description and hung his head. "Jesus, this's gonna be awful."